The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1887-08-14
PARALLEL HORROR.

The Terrible Ashtabula Tragedy of Decem-
Der Night, Eleven Years Ago.
Cincinnati Enquirer
The only railway accident in the annals of
the country which affords anything like paral-
lei to Wednesday nights shocking disaster at
Chatsworth, ILL.,, was the Ashtabula Ohio, hor-
of the night of Dec. 20, 1876. 1t was
bitterly cold, clustering winter night. Train
No. 5. on the Lake Shore 81 Michigan Southern
road, known as the Pacific express. was whirl-
ing along through cold lake winds and driving
snow drifts from Buffalo to Cleveland. The
train, which consisted of eleven coaches. was,
owing to the heavy snow drifts, being pulled by
two engines There were about It's passengers
on the train. It was during the holiday season,
and many of the passen gers were on their way
to spend the approaching New Years day re-
united with frie nds, relatives or loved ones.
Alas. for most of the passengers the ill-fated
train, that day of reunion never came "Imag
inc the scene, if you cau," said the .Enquirers
graphic special dispatch er, from the spot on the
day following. "A bleak winter night. Close
upon the shores of Lake Erie, in gale from the
northeast, driving before Ir a binding snow
storm, which has already stretched great sno W.
drifts across every roadway and IL every fence
corner and covered the railroad track to depth
of several feet in many places, The Pacific Ex-
press train, due at Ashtabula at 5:15 P. M, is
nearly three hours late and comes plunging
across the railroad bridge drawn by two massive
engines Below is a frightful chasm. some sixty
feet in depth, and directly below the span of 155
feet in length is the river bed thickly incased in
ice. Such was the scene just previous to the
disaster, which will make the name OF AShta-
buIa symbolical of all that is horrible The
foremost locomotive had just fairly passed the
middle span when its engineer, McGuire, says
he heard strange voice behind him. and al
most instinctivey he sprang to the lever and
gave the engine full head of steam. to which
she quickly responded and bounded forward
with such force as TO break her coupling with the
second engine. and reached terra frma just as
the second locomotive, together with the whole
train and the bridge. plunged into the black
abyss below. No could do justice to the
scene of horror which followed in the bed of the
river beneath. Many of the cars threw COM
plete somersault in their descent; and were shiv-
cred to atoms The heavy iron-work of the
bridge, with ties, rails, car-wheels. detached
blocks of ice and splintered cars heaped together
in one heterogeneous mass. formed one of the
most awful funeral piles that it was ever the lot
of mortal eyes to gaze upon Within the space
of ten minutes. before assistance could be OBJ
tanned the flames had started out their dead
ly mission, united with the icy cuAents below,
to claim every possbs victim. fire alarm
soon brought throng of ready hands to render
all the assistance in their power AS the flames
rapidly approached the cries and screams of the
manned and helpless men, women and children
heart-rendlng Many had become fast
ened between the splintered timoers so as to be
unable to extricate themselves. and were en-
wrapped by the flames in plain view of the men
who working, doing their best to save
some other sufferer. With the aid of axes and
ropes some sixty five seventy persons were
taken out of the wreck alive and carried on
stretchers to the houses and hotels in the vi
cinity, which were freely thrown open. In the
attempt to escape many crawled through the
car windows only to find themselves IN the
midst of an icy stream, and large number
were drowned That any should have escaped
ali We from the frigntful plunge seemed almost
miraculous"
One hundred lives went out in the terrible
death-leap of the Pacific express on that pit
ter winter night. The bridge, the giving way
of which caused the horror a Howe
truss, built entirely of iron and about eleven
years old. 1t sixty-nine feet above the
river, and had arch $50 feet long in the clear,
the whole length Of the bridge being 157 feet It
was built in the Cleveland shops, and had been
tested with six locomotives. The generally ac
ceptsd theory that the giving way of the
bridge was the result Of the contraction of the
iron caused by the intense cold weather. A
great hue and cry was raised at the time of the
disaster that the railroad officials were culpabe,
as the bridge bad been in an unsafe condition
for some time. Whether this was false or true,
the accusation made such a deep impression
the sensitive nature of Charles Collins. the chief
engineer of the road, that he shortly afterward
committed suicide, the rash act being directly
attributable to the charges of criminal careless
ness laid at his door. Engineer Collins's death
by his own hand was the last bloody act in the
terrible Ashtabula tragedy.